The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is a type of a hybrid vehicle that has both an internal combustion engine, which produces driving power by burning fossil fuel, and an electric motor, which produces driving power using electric energy. A general hybrid vehicle converts the driving power of the combustion engine to charge a high-voltage battery, which supplies electric power to the electric motor. A plug-in hybrid vehicle has an additional device for receiving electric power by being directly connected to an external power source, and thus the high-voltage battery may be charged at energy stations, in addition to being charged by the conversion of the driving power produced by the combustion engine.
We have discovered that when an environment is extremely cold (for example, 20 degrees Fahrenheit or less), the warm-up time for the temperature of the cabin of a PHEV may be longer than desired. In certain cases, this may be due to the vehicle prioritizing a charge-depleting mode, in which the primary source of motive power is a battery and an electric motor.